What my mother doesn't know is in the basement

Hi Mom. There is a deer skin curing in the wood room downstairs. It will be gone by Monday. Thanks for your understanding. Love, Bo.

Thanks to a local hunter I received a deer skin on Tuesday. After we took the fence down at the farm the hunters descended on the gathering deer, driving up in their escalades (yes, an odd combination), with bow and arrow in hand. They had been watching them throughout the season to see where they gathered outside the electric fence and now legally have the chance to kill, so long as they use legal bows (no guns, no weak shots that would injure but not kill). Many hunters throw out their skinned pelts so I am now the proud owner of a pelt-in-process! I picked it up outside the farm cooler in a soggy box on Tuesday, brought it home and began working. The processing of cleaning it was very similar to that of cleaning a sheep's pelt, except the skin layers come off easy. The goal is to peal away excess meat and fat in order for it to dry faster and not rot. After doing this with both a swiss army knife and prying fingers, I rubbed in salt to the whole pelt. (Mom, again, I'm sorry. I finished the sea salt above the stove. Will get some more at the store tomorrow.) Here is the pelt salted and drying next to the wood:

On Monday I will send it to Bucks County tanning in Pennsylvania, a great company that does all sorts of pelts. Though its a bummer to send part of the production chain away from home, I am wary of working it for 3 days straight with some of the juices I taped from the brain (which I didn't have- Mom, you should be grateful) and even then coming out with a stiff final product. Maybe someday soon I will try it. When it comes back I will have my finished deer pelt! Which will most likely become a nice rug for the cabin in Gouldsboro this winter. 

I mention this all because no, a deer is not a sheep, but pelt processing is definitely an integral step in sheep rearing, especially if we are to honor the entire sheep. And enjoy their wool in every capacity. Though one could have a no-slaughter farm, I believe in meat consumption and will do so in the most ethical manner. Here is a sheep pelt that I snuggle with every night, from a lamb a few years ago on the island farm:

At some point, when I was a vegetarian for 7 or so years, I could never imagine my hands scrapping away at a dead animals skin, hair, flesh. But now I see it as such an important step in holistically respecting the animal that we raise. Also, in purchasing these pelts for your own living space, they support the farmer to do so more in the future.